Just out the Van: Lights, Music, Words, Action - It’s Book Slam time again with Guatam Malkani, author of the Londonstani, Salena Godden, writer, singer, and raconteur, and Iman, winner of the National Music Award. This Thursday at Neighbourhood, 6.30pm till late, 12 Aclam Road, W10 5QZ, £5 in advance or £6 on the door. Fresh Next Week: Michael Palin leads a reading from Another Sky, a new collection of work by writers whose lives......

This Thursday, the Oxfam book shop on Marylebone High Street will be holding another of its super foodie nights. This is the charity's flagship London bookshop and is a treat for philanthropic bibliophiles: new and anitquarian books, CDs, vinyl, videos and DVDs can be found here and in-store events are programmed throughout the year. Tomorrow night, the writer-chefs Mark Hix (the man behind The Ivy, Le Caprice and writer of various books including fish......

This Day In London’s History 1911: Prolific film director Val Guest is born in Maida Vale. Although probably most renowned for directing (and co-writing) sci-fi classics The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass II in the mid 1950s, the cinematic career of the man who was born Valmond Maurice Grossman on December 11th 1911 in Maida Vale was long and varied. Since his early twenties, he had tried his hand at acting, scriptwriting and even composing,......